cigarettes in medical school

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Postal said:
Dude, just hide it
Everyone has this "holier than thou" attitude towards smokers and I think it's ridiculous.
You don't want to have to deal with people's looks of disgust when they find out you smoke.



And , no, I am not a smoker
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And chew a crap ton of gum and buy some febreeze.
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try the electronic cigarettes that they sell at the kiosk in the mall. smokeless, generates that habit, and no second hand smoking!
 
hmania said:
try the electronic cigarettes that they sell at the kiosk in the mall. smokeless, generates that habit, and no second hand smoking!
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But do you look as cool doing it? That's what counts.
 
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Transdermal nicotine patch to feed your addiction. Problem solved.
 
While making the switch to the granddaddy of tobacco products, chew, seems logical; I feel like that might be worse, especially for me hoping to go to dental school.

I would hope nobody would have snap judgments on you just because of you smoking. Some of the closest people in my life and brightest people in my classes smoke and nevertheless, I'm happy to be friends with them.
 
MuskieMan33 said:
While making the switch to the granddaddy of tobacco products, chew, seems logical; I feel like that might be worse, especially for me hoping to go to dental school.

I would hope nobody would have snap judgments on you just because of you smoking. Some of the closest people in my life and brightest people in my classes smoke and nevertheless, I'm happy to be friends with them.
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It's interesting you bring in the dental POV. With oral health at the forefront of dentistry, it's interesting dentists would smoke and detract from their oral appearance and glamour.
 
All debates Aside about whether or not smoking as a healthcare professional is right/wrong, I'd like to bring another perspective into this--that of the patient's. You may be a fantastic doctor and smoke, which is your business, but the majority of patients are less likely to respect their doctors if they see them smoking. Again, you can argue all day about whether this perception is right or wrong, but this cold hard truth is not going away. You can openly smoke if you want, just be prepared to deal with the consequences it may have on your practice. That being said, I would recommend not smoking openly to facilitate your patient interactions. At the end of the day, your patients are the ones that matter.

In a SEPARATE discussion, I would also make the recommendation of quitting smoking altogether because doing so will help you better understand your patients as you help them achieve better health. Since I started dental school I have tried to incorporate many of the good health practices that I've learned about and I feel like its helped me a lot in preparing for treating patients.
 
Yay smoking - your most likely going to die young. Enjoy it while your around.
 
I don't know why people care. Smoke all you want. What matters is how well of a physician you are, and any person that appreciates this should look past whether you smoke. Have an open mind people... and focus on what really matters as a doc....
 
Glaring hypocrisy? What a joke. How many Dr.'s out there are shredded and veiny who have perfect BP? How many are drinkers (which is far worse than tobacco). Blindfully obliging to the war on cigs makes you a tool.
 
Sorry I digress Maximus Meridius.
 
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MaximusMeridius said:
Regardless of your opinion, telling people not to smoke while participating yourself is, by definition, hypocrisy. Unless, of course, you are the only doctor in the nation that tells patients to go ahead and smoke. In that case, you wouldn't be a hypocrite, just an idiot.
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The ONLY Dr in the nation huh? So a PT having severe depression and life issues will be told to quit smoking immediately by EVERY physician right?
 
ColeSmalls said:
I don't care about smoking, I just like having sex. As long as there's time for that in med school im good. Everyone has their vice. Mine is lust. Some people prefer to stick cigs in their mouth.

I really can't judge with all the stuff ive done, lol. People are people..who cares. As long as you dont wave a cig in in my face im good.
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This must be the most honest answer that I've ever come across on any forum ever.
 
Guys, hold on. Guys.

What kind of smoking?
th_smiley-eyebrow.gif





AMIRIGHT GUISE!?
 
HM3 said:
Glaring hypocrisy? What a joke. How many Dr.'s out there are shredded and veiny who have perfect BP? How many are drinkers (which is far worse than tobacco). Blindfully obliging to the war on cigs makes you a tool.
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I have to agree, unfortunately. Doctors aren't perfectly healthy. Diet soda, junk food in the lounge, hospital food in general, alcohol, etc. Smoking is just one of many unhealthy things that many doctors do.

Of course, smoking can harm others, so that's something to be dealt with appropriately.

But anyway, hospitals will likely continue to implement rules concerning the BMI and tobacco habits of their employees, and that's fine by me. But I don't think smoking a cigarette (and only you inhaling the smoke) is any worse than eating a Big Mac.
 
This reminds me of the guy I saw the other day smoking cigarettes and drinking a beer at Unos while wearing scrubs. It didn't look so professional, if you ask me. He'd better not have been on call!

This also makes me think of all the people I volunteer with at my rescue squad. We have smokers, dippers, obese people, and here we are running around trying to be advocates for health. Yes, I understand that people all have their vices and so do I, but if I am telling people to do something I want them to do to be healthy I will definitely not openly do it myself in public for the world to see, ESPECIALLY not in uniform or in scrubs. And I will most certainly not eat a Big Mac.... at least not while on duty:) I'd like to not be a hypocrite, at least as much as humanly possible.
 
cpgisland said:
i do not smoke, but i would think that being a closet smoker would be the best move. Although i do not share the opinion i do believe that smokers are some of the most hated individuals in modern society.
I do support bans on smoking in public places
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+1
 
Snowy19 said:
All debates Aside about whether or not smoking as a healthcare professional is right/wrong, I'd like to bring another perspective into this--that of the patient's. You may be a fantastic doctor and smoke, which is your business, but the majority of patients are less likely to respect their doctors if they see them smoking. Again, you can argue all day about whether this perception is right or wrong, but this cold hard truth is not going away. You can openly smoke if you want, just be prepared to deal with the consequences it may have on your practice. That being said, I would recommend not smoking openly to facilitate your patient interactions. At the end of the day, your patients are the ones that matter.

In a SEPARATE discussion, I would also make the recommendation of quitting smoking altogether because doing so will help you better understand your patients as you help them achieve better health. Since I started dental school I have tried to incorporate many of the good health practices that I've learned about and I feel like its helped me a lot in preparing for treating patients.
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Yeah, it always bothers me to see Police Officers smoking. Also Chefs
 
sotto voce said:
I have to agree, unfortunately. Doctors aren't perfectly healthy. Diet soda, junk food in the lounge, hospital food in general, alcohol, etc. Smoking is just one of many unhealthy things that many doctors do.

Of course, smoking can harm others, so that's something to be dealt with appropriately.

But anyway, hospitals will likely continue to implement rules concerning the BMI and tobacco habits of their employees, and that's fine by me. But I don't think smoking a cigarette (and only you inhaling the smoke) is any worse than eating a Big Mac.
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BMI rules?
 
maximusmeridius said:
hmmmm....i think it speaks to the quality of physician to some degree. I probably wouldn't take nutrition advice from an obese doctor, or psychiatric advice from a cocaine addicted psychiatrist. Everyone is different though.
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+1
 
My favorites are the RT's I catch outside the hospital smoking.
 
HM3 said:
Glaring hypocrisy? What a joke. How many Dr.'s out there are shredded and veiny who have perfect BP? How many are drinkers (which is far worse than tobacco). Blindfully obliging to the war on cigs makes you a tool.
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Oh really?

All the deaths from drunk driving, alcohol poisoning, and other alcohol related deaths in the USA are less than a quarter of the deaths related to smoking. In fact, the number for just second hand smoke deaths per year (49,400) is about 2/3 the number of alcohol deaths per year (75,000).

In case you wanted to hear the number it is 443,000 people per year.


That being said, I don't have any hate towards cigarettes. I don't buy 'em, I've smoked a few though and was lucky enough to not get hooked.

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/
 
MaximusMeridius said:
Smoking is, in my opinion, far more ridiculous than eating a big mac. I don't know many people who eat 10-20 big macs per day...I know plenty of smokers who go thru that many cigarettes per day.
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Those scales don't make sense. Just because a person doesn't eat 10 Big Macs per day doesn't mean that 2-3 per day isn't unhealthy.

To switch your statement up: Smoking is, in my opinion, far more ridiculous than shooting heroin. I don't know many people who shoot heroin 10-20 times per day...I know plenty of smokers who smoke that many cigarettes per day.
 
MDschoolorbust said:
Oh really?

All the deaths from drunk driving, alcohol poisoning, and other alcohol related deaths in the USA are less than a quarter of the deaths related to smoking. In fact, the number for just second hand smoke deaths per year (49,400) is about 2/3 the number of alcohol deaths per year (75,000).

In case you wanted to hear the number it is 443,000 people per year.


That being said, I don't have any hate towards cigarettes. I don't buy 'em, I've smoked a few though and was lucky enough to not get hooked.

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/
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Interesting fact sheet.
 
It's even more simple than comparing big macs to cigarettes. I'm not the model for fitness. I gained a lot of weight my junior/senior year, spent over 12 hours on campus/day, didn't eat all day until late at night, hardly slept... just had a lot on my plate (so to speak). Ended up gaining a ton of weight, which is something I'm still working on losing. //end personalrant.

However, just my opinion... but I think being overweight is better than smoking or drinking. Fat is something natural to the body... and of course, an excess of it is bad... but it's something the body needs. Ethanol and tobacco, on the other hand, are foreign and serve no benefit or use to the body. Even a small bit initially is considered toxic, because it's just not supposed to be in our system.

I don't judge people for smoking/drinking... as long as it doesn't become a detriment to people around them. If my GP decides to drink on the weekends, that's fine with me. I just choose not to do it and never will. But trying to compare being overweight to smoking is just silly, I think.
 
I don't smoke and i also tell to others to not to smoke because it's really very dangerous for health, it's a main reason behind the throat Cancer and Lung cancer so, please leave the smoking because it's not only harm you but it also harms others too.
 
MedPR said:
Oh definitely. I'm not a smoker, and smokers don't necessarily bother me, but it is much nicer to be in a smoke-free environment. The only thing I'm against is the government forcing restaurants/bars to be smoke free and people complaining that smokers are ruining their lives. I like the outcome of the government regulations, I just don't like that the restaurant owners don't even have control of their restaurant.
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In most states, smoke-free laws have been instituted on the grounds of worker safety, not customer comfort. Business owners don't get to pick and choose which worker safety rules they comply with. Should the owner of a steel mill get to decide whether or not he puts safety railings on the catwalks over vats of molten steel? After all, workers can decide when they're hired whether or not they are willing to work in a steel mill with the ever-present threat of incineration. If they want to work in a mill with railings, they can find one of those, if they don't mind the lack of railings, they have that option too.

To refute the legitimacy of smoke-free laws, you either need to argue 1) that all safety regulations are inherently unjust because then "owners don't even have control of their" business, or else 2) that the evidence does not support second-hand smoke as being a real health threat. Any other approach to this issue just means you're being dishonest.
 
Iliketoytles said:
It's even more simple than comparing big macs to cigarettes. I'm not the model for fitness. I gained a lot of weight my junior/senior year, spent over 12 hours on campus/day, didn't eat all day until late at night, hardly slept... just had a lot on my plate (so to speak). Ended up gaining a ton of weight, which is something I'm still working on losing. //end personalrant.

However, just my opinion... but I think being overweight is better than smoking or drinking. Fat is something natural to the body... and of course, an excess of it is bad... but it's something the body needs. Ethanol and tobacco, on the other hand, are foreign and serve no benefit or use to the body. Even a small bit initially is considered toxic, because it's just not supposed to be in our system.

I don't judge people for smoking/drinking... as long as it doesn't become a detriment to people around them. If my GP decides to drink on the weekends, that's fine with me. I just choose not to do it and never will. But trying to compare being overweight to smoking is just silly, I think.
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gotta agree here. the reason is have no problem with people smoking isn't because i drink or smoke. i don't. but i am overweight. i have been my entire life. i have the genetics that make it incredibly hard to lose weight. i still try to exercise and in about 8 lbs. i will hit the "down 50 lbs" mark, but I am still overweight another 50ish. So i can't really judge people people for doing things that are unhealthy because it doesn't matter if i job an 7 minute mile (i can't), people are still going to look at me and judge me. it is what it is.
 
MDschoolorbust said:
To switch your statement up: Smoking is, in my opinion, far more ridiculous than shooting heroin. I don't know many people who shoot heroin 10-20 times per day...I know plenty of smokers who smoke that many cigarettes per day.
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I hope your post was a joke because this is the dumbest thing I have EVER read on sdn.

If you actually believe this you should be banned from entering any career in the healthcare field!
 
CpGisland said:
I hope your post was a joke because this is the dumbest thing I have EVER read on sdn.

If you actually believe this you should be banned from entering any career in the healthcare field!
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I'm not sure how he got there either...someone started comparing cigarettes to big macs, then it somehow made its way to heroin.
 
On a more practical note, you will most likely need to be able to go 30 hours without smoking when you are on call. More and more hospitals are going to smoke free campuses where it is illegal to smoke on hospital property and you are not going to want to sacrifice what little sleep time you have to go far enough away to smoke.

And none of the resident work hour restrictions matter at all to students. All the hospitals I have rotated at have a night float system for the residents (at least during the week) but the medical students still take 24-30 hour call.
 
I just quit a 4 yr dipin streak cold turkey. 1 week in and feel super pissed but know it will be worth it. Gotta go shadow a gen surg DO tom and glad I don't have to worry about puttin that liper in, good luck peeps
 
DrRichand1 said:
I just quit a 4 yr dipin streak cold turkey. 1 week in and feel super pissed but know it will be worth it. Gotta go shadow a gen surg DO tom and glad I don't have to worry about puttin that liper in, good luck peeps
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Better to see the general surgeon to shadow than the ENT guy to take out part of your jaw. Keep up the strong work.
 
DrRichand1 said:
I just quit a 4 yr dipin streak cold turkey. 1 week in and feel super pissed but know it will be worth it. Gotta go shadow a gen surg DO tom and glad I don't have to worry about puttin that liper in, good luck peeps
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Good stuff man. That's the way to do it. I went cold turkey too. I smoked a pack a day while studyin for my MCAT. The first week I got flu like symptoms because the cilia in my throat and lungs started regenerating and consequently pushed all the crap up out of my lungs in the process. It was tough but I never felt better. It's funny how when you quit smoking you start hating smoke and despise smokers.
 
DrRichand1 said:
I just quit a 4 yr dipin streak cold turkey. 1 week in and feel super pissed but know it will be worth it. Gotta go shadow a gen surg DO tom and glad I don't have to worry about puttin that liper in, good luck peeps
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DrMediterranean said:
Good stuff man. That's the way to do it. I went cold turkey too. I smoked a pack a day while studyin for my MCAT. The first week I got flu like symptoms because the cilia in my throat and lungs started regenerating and consequently pushed all the crap up out of my lungs in the process. It was tough but I never felt better. It's funny how when you quit smoking you start hating smoke and despise smokers.
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Congrats to both of you. :cool:
 
I'll add another vote for e-cigs if you feel you can't quit. All of the nicotine, none of the stench or trace arsenic. I was fortunate enough to talk to a guy who had spent literally thousands trying the different brands and he gave me some solid advice on which battery unit and liquids to buy. Three months in and I haven't had a traditional cigarette since the second day and haven't missed them for a second. I estimate I've saved about $250 so far and that goes up by about $100-150 per month from here on out. If you're interested on brands and such, feel free to PM. I can also give you a self-serving discount code that kicks back 10% on your liquid purchases on further orders after it gives you a 10% discount on your first order =p
 
I like the phrase "Practice what you preach".
 
Smoke a few cigarettes a month when your at the bar with your bros or smoke a few when your extremely stressed. Just don't get addicted. I know it's "bad":rolleyes:, but thats what works for me. I can still do a mile in 7:30,still bench 300lbs, still a beast in the gym. As i said earlier" just don't get addicted." Guess it's easier said then done, but it works for me. The key is to smoke a few then throw the entire pack away:cool:
 
Also, use tooth whitener when your not smoking(for a period of time longer than a week) so your can keep those teeth nice and white.
 
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